Ashes to ashes
by Lilac Rose6
Summary: Orihime realized she was in love with Ulquiorra. But he's gone now, the only thing she has left of him is a pile of ash. But is that really all there is? After the Winter War is over, she decides to heal that pile of ash. UlquiHime, chapter story.
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Sorry to any of you peoples who might happen to read my other stories and were hoping for an update, but when inspiration speaks, you freaking LISTEN.**

**Ulquiorra: She does not own Bleach, but if she did, Ichigo Kurosaki would be dead-**

**Me: *holds up skull* I think this one is his...**

**Ulquiorra: And I would have lived and ended up with Orihime.**

**Me: that pretty much covers it, so... Here ya go!**

**

* * *

**

Orihime hadn't realized. She hadn't figured it out, not until now. She had grown attached to her jailor, she had that condition- what was it called? Stockholm syndrome? Yes, that was it.

She knew she was attached to him, to Ulquiorra. He was the only thing she had to cling to, the closest thing to a friend in a dismal world.

But it had grown to more than that, more than just a twisted version of friendship. Orihime had actually begun to like the Espada, seeing him as an actual friend instead of the person she had clung to for stability.

He was... different. Emotionless, but that was okay. Orihime promised herself she'd teach him what a heart was.

And she had.

"Are you scared of me, woman?" Ulquiorra asked, holding his hand out to her. His slender fingers hung in the air, his emerald orbs begging forgiveness. Orihime stared at him, tears choking her throat.

He had become her friend, and after that? After that her feelings for him at continue to grow, past companionship, past liking him, past the strange phase where she couldn't understand that jumble in her brain and her heart. It had continued to grow into something she had never felt before. Something she wanted to experience for the rest of her life.

Love.

She, Orhime Inoue, was in love with the enemy. Ulquiorra Schiffer. This had to be the worst case of Stockholm syndrome in history.

Orihime wondered if he loved her back, he had always said he felt nothing. He had no emotions, he had told her. And at first, she had believed him.

But now, looking into his brilliant green eyes, she realized it wasn't true. Ulquiorra wanted to be forgiven by her, he wanted her to tell him it was okay. That she would be there. There was regret and sadness in his eyes. A desperation, almost.

He wanted her to tell him the truth.

"No... I'm not afraid of you." Orihime said, her voice quiet and tear-filled. _Please don't leave me. Please. I'm not ready yet, I love you Ulquiorra._

Slowly, she reached her hand out, grasping for his. She needed this, and so did he. This closure, this ending. As though holding his hand might help.

_Hold my hand. Please, just hold my hand till the very end. Because I want this, and if I can't touch you, even one more time, I may die._

But fate wouldn't even allow them that much. As Orihime reached for him, her hand closed around nothing but ash.

_Please, I never got the chance to tell him, he needs to know. There wasn't even time..._

With a sob, she whispered so quietly, no one but Ulquiorra could hear. These words were for his ears only, and no others. She wanted to hold him, to touch him, to know that he would be there for her. But she couldn't even do that, all she could do was this.

"I love you." She whispered, her words seem to coil in the air like mist, just for the two of them. And Ulquiorra heard.

Even at the end, there was no closure. Nothing for the two. His eyes were filled with that horrible sadness. But they were no longer lifeless, because at the very end, he had realized.

_I know what a heart is. It's right here, in my hand. Thank you, woman._

Looking at her beautiful face, her orange hair whipping around in a mad halo as the wind lashed at them violently, the corners of his lips turned up almost unnoticeabley. But she saw, because she always saw.

_I love you, Orihime Inoue._

And she knew, because she saw it in his eyes, before they too vanished into the air.

Orihime felt the tears stinging her eyes, blurring her vision as the last remnants of her one love blew away; ashes scattered in the wind. She held her fist tightly, holding the bit of ash she had caught as her hand had reached for him.

It was all she had left.

She stood there, staring at the spot where he had stood just moments before, and a dull, empty feeling slowly filled her chest, the only thing that seemed to fill that emptiness was a horrible aching. She couldn't hear anything but a horrible noise, like the shattering of a thousand mirrors.

It was her heart breaking.

Slowly, the tears spilled over, pouring down her porcelain face in silver ribbons. Looking at the sky, she sobbed, clutching her hand- clenched in a fist- to her chest. It held all that was left of her love. Of her Ulquiorra.

And she wasn't about to loose that.

* * *

**Me: Do you hate me? Huh, do you? Well don't, just wait for the next chapter.**

**Ulquiorra: She wants you to reveiw.**

**Me: Doesn't it irk you that they killed off all of the Espadas except for Grimmjow? Speaking of which, I should bring him into this story.**

**Ulquiorra: Once more, just reveiw.**

**Me: please?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Me: Okay, thanks for all the great reveiws, I love you all! Haha, in a friendly sort of way.**

**Ulquiorra: Tite Kubo owns Bleach, she owns the story line.**

**Me: well that's all I got to say...**

**Ulquiorra: read.**

**

* * *

**

The Winter War was over. Things had gone back to normal. Or as normal as they could be. Orihime silently mourned all the people who had died. The enemies and the allies.

There was no joy in winning. There was no true winner. War was not glorious or heroic. It was just meaningless bloodshed and violence.

Orihime had kept the pile of ash that was all she had caught when she reached for Ulquiorra. She had kept it in a small pouch, hidden on her person.

She didn't want to give up that last bit of him, what she had left. But she felt it was cruel, keeping Ulquiorra. If his ashes were here with her, she wondered where his soul was...

Was his soul caught in some limbo? Did it go to the Soul Society? Did it just... disapear? She was hoping for the second one.

The bag was simple enough, it was white silk with a drawstring top. She had it from her time in Heuco Mundo. **[A/N is that spelled right?]**

Today, while sitting in her apartment, she slowly emptied it onto the floor.

_Where would he have liked to have his ashes scattered? _She wondered sullenly. She didn't know too much about the man she had unwittingly fallen in love with, so it was a hard decision.

He had been so different from anyone Orihime had ever met... How to figure it out?

"Maybe... a meadow? Your eyes were so pretty. A deeper green than an emerald. A meadow is greenish, right?" Orihime mumbled to herself, "or perhaps... someplace that looks like Las Noches? No... you probably wouldn't want that. Gosh, I wish I knew more about you!"

Orihime let out yet another sigh, she had been doing it a lot these days. "Maybe a lake? Or the beach? Mountains? Spain? A cave, that's where bats live...?" Thi last thought made her chuckle, but she slowly sank back into her sullen mood, staring at a spot on the wall.

She wished he could tell her where. Then again, if he could tell her, he wouldn't be dead, and if he wasn't dead then she wouldn't have this problem, now would she? Orihime wished there was a way to bring him back. She missed Ulquiorra.

If only she could bring him back to life...

Staring at the gray pile on her carpet, an idea- far from a place to scatter him- began to form.

Orihime thought it was over, she expected him to be gone forever. It was a silly thought, trying to heal the remaining pile of ashes. All that was left of him, but still she tried.

Gently touching each of her hairpins in turn, she took a deep breath and looked at the ash, trying not to get her hopes up.

"I reject!" She said. A glowing orange dome took form over the ash, and Orihime focused all her power into it.

Nothing happened at first, and Orihime felt a wave of disapointment crash over her. _Well what were you expecting? He's gone. Stop thinking about him, Orihime!_

So wrapped up in her internal self-scolding, she failed to stop healing the ash. And at first, she also failed to notice when the ash began to slowly swirl around.

Tears blurring her vision, Orhime began talking to herself out loud, "stop it! Stop crying, you knew he wasn't going to come back. It was silly to even try, now stop. Right now-" Orihime cut off when she glanced at the orange dome and saw the ash.

"W-what..." She whispered. It began to spread out and glow. Watching in rapt attention, Orihime saw it take a shape. The shape of a tall man.

There was a flash of light and Orihime gasped in surprise, but didn't dare stop healing. Blinking away the spots from her vision, she looked to where the pile of ash had been lying. And saw something that made her heart skip a beat and her breath hitch in her throat.

Slowly lowering the sheild-like dome, she stared. And stared. And stared.

Tears began to flow from her eyes and she quickly wiped them away, refusing to have her vision hindered. Orihime never wanted to stop looking at him, because who knew how long there was left?

Then, realizing he wasn't wearing a thing, she blushed and grabbed a blanket, throwing it over him. He wasn't in his release state, but had reverted back to the form he had been in for most of her time in Los Noches.

After a few moments of clearing her head, she looked back down at his face.

"Ulquiorra..." She whispered joyfully, reaching forward. Her fingers brushed along his cheek.

_So cold... _She thought, and for a moment she was frantic, thinking that it might not be Ulquiorra but simply his body. But then she remembered that he had always been cold.

"Like snow..." She muttered. As though her voice had brought him back, Ulquiorra stirred.

Slowly, his emerald green eyes fluttered open.

* * *

**Me: IT WENT TO FAST! I took forever to try and add more, but it still feels too fast!**

**Ulquiorra: hn.**

**Me: ah well, the cliffie was fun to write. I'll tell you this, there's something wrong with Ulquiorra now, if anyone can guess what it is, I'll give them a pri~ize.**

**Ulquiorra: reveiw or she'll send me after you.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Me: And welcome to yet another chapter oooofff... ASHES TO ASHES!**

**Ulquiorra: right.**

**Me: unfortunatly, no one managed to guess what the problem with Ulquiorra was! Well, the major problem, some people did get the side-problem.**

**Ulquiorra: the winners are CrystalAmethyst, and HatakeLuci. They guessed the minor difference in me.**

**Me: your prize will be... a virtual Ulqui-kun plushie! Yeah, it's lame, I know... You could give me a REASONABLE request for this story if you want, and if possible I might incorporate it into the plot. Is that a better prize? Well? Un?**

**

* * *

**

Orihime stared down into his green eyes, her heart skipped a beat. He was alive. His perpetually messy hair fell to his shoulders and the green tear tracks fell from his eyes and down his porcelain skin.

Ulquiorra stared straight up, blinked once, blinked again, then sighed and closed his eyes. The orange-haired girl above him frowned.

"Ulquiorra?" She asked. The second she said his name, the man's eyes snapped open.

"Woman?" He said, his voice the same as she remembered it. Tears blurred her vision for the umpteenth time that day and she threw her arms around his neck.

"It's you, you're ok! Oh my god, I-I-I thought-" Orihime broke off with a sob and hugged him closer. Slowly, his own arms went around the girl. One hand went up to her face and he slowly brushed away the tears.

"Why are you sad, woman?" He asked.

"I'm not, I'm so happy!" Orihime said through her tears.

"But you are crying. Do you not cry when you are sad?" He asked slowly.

"Some people cry when they're happy too." Orihime whispered. The sat like that for a long time, simply holding each other.

Ulquiorra was back, he was alive, and he was in her arms. Orihime felt whole, now. She had needed Ulquiorra, and now she had him. She could die happy, here in his arms. She ran a hand through his soft black hair, smiling.

"Woman?" Ulquiorra finally asked, slowly sitting up as Orihime pulled back.

"Yes?" She asked, wiping away her tears.

"Where... where are we?" He questioned.

"My apartment. It's where I live." Orihime told him, then noticed his hand slowly strayed up to his head, holding the left side with a look of wonder and what could almost be fear in his eyes, the rest of his face emotionless.

"Ulqui-orra..." Orihime trailed off as she realized what was wrong. The hollow helmet that had once rested there was gone, his unruly hair the only thing in it's space.

"Y-your mask." She said, staring at the spot where it was supposed to be.

"Gone. Along with the hollow hole..." Ulquiorra said, and true to his words, the place slightly above his collarbone was whole. Pale skin, unflawed and completely normal-looking.

"Does this mean... you're human?" Orihime asked, her silver eyes widening.

"I'm... not sure. I can't tell, but Murciélago... it's not here." He said, his eyes didn't move around to try and find his zanpaku-to, but his hands slid across the floor in a searching kind of manner.

"Does that mean..." Orihime trailed off, Ulquiorra shrugged, a small gesture she would never have expected from him.

Orihime stood up, remembering Ulquiorra's state of attire. "I'll get you some clothes." She said. Ulquiorra nodded.

The girl went into her room and opened a trunk that sat at the end of her bed. Opening it, she pulled out clothes that had once been her brothers. A deep green T-shirt and a long pair of khaki cargo pants.

Slipping silently from the room, she held the clothes over her arm and saw Ulquiorra, sitting in the same spot as before. He had a deep frown marring his face and appeared to be squinting at the floor.

"I got the clothes," she said. Ulquiorra nodded without looking up.

"Thank you." He said stoicly, but Orihime caught a slight under tone of frustration and confusion. She turned her back to him as he changed into the clothes.

"Woman?" Orihime turned to see him fully dressed, his arms at his sides.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Is your home always this dark?" He questioned, and Orihime frowned.

"Dark...?" She said.

"I can't see anything, are the lights off?" He asked her.

"No, they're all on..." She said slowly, Ulquiorra frowned slightly.

"I... don't see anything." He said. Orihime stepped forward and waved a hand in front of his eyes. No reaction. She balled her hand into a fist and swung it forward, stopping it just a few inches from his face. Nothing.

"Ulquiorra... I... I think..." Orihime hesitated.

"What is it, woman?" He asked.

She looked up at his face. "I think you're blind."

* * *

**Me: side problem- he is HUMAN! Or partly human.**

**Ulquiorra: this big problem is that I'm now blind.**

**Me: Yep! His eyes are his coolest feature, a spot of color on a landscape void of any other color.**

**Shigure: my, that was poetic!**

**Me: why thank you- Shigure, where did you come from? ! ?**

**Ulquiorra: what she meant to say is that my eyes seem to be the most prominant feature about myself, so she fixated the problem on them.**

**Me: Reveiw!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. So very, very sorry. I should have updated sooner, I'm so sorry...**

**Ulquiorra: *clears throat* Lady Lilac? You should get on with it.**

**Me: ok, so I was going through my profile and decided to reread this story out of boredom and realized 'gee, this is some of my best work!... *looks at the updated date* oh shiz.' So, yeah. I hope you can forgive me.**

**Ulquiorra: we own neither Bleach nor Shigure Sohma from the previous chapter's author note.**

**Me: sorry again.**

* * *

They stood in tense silence for a moment. "Blind?" Ulquiorra finally asked.

"I, uh... I think so." Orihime said softly. Ulquiorra slowly blinked his brilliant emerald eyes. His sightless eyes.

"That's..." The former Espada seemed at a loss for words, something completely new to both of them.

The pair stood there, staring at each other. Or, Orihime stared at Ulquiorra and he in turn stared in her general direction.

They both jumped when there was a loud knock on the door.

"C-coming!" Orihime squeaked. "quick, Ulquiorra, hide!" She said quietly.

"Where?" He hissed.

"I don't know, uh, uhm..." Her silver eyes darted about frantically. "In the kitchen!"

"Where's that?" He replied.

In response, the girl shoved her former jailer into said room, ignoring his soft noise of protest.

She scurried over to the door, brushing her bright orange hair behind her ear as she let out a breath. Vaguley, she hoped that whoever was on the other side wouldn't notice anything off about her.

She swung the door open with a bright smile. "Oh! Ichigo, hello." She said to the taller teen.

"Hey Orihime, What's up?" The ginger asked.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all!" Orihime said with a giggled, waving her hands around. Had she just brought a former Espada back to life? What? Pfft, no!

"Just came over to check on you." Ichigo said with a shrug. He knew that she had been feeling rather depressed after the Winter War had ended, so him and the others often came around to check in on the girl.

"Oh I'm fine, just... cooking! You know how I love to cook!" Orihime blurted out, laughing quickly.

"Uh... yeah. You ok? You're acting kinda weird." Ichigo told her, arching an eyebrow.

"Fine, fine! I am A-Ok!" She gave him a thumbs up.

"Er... right." Ichigo said, rubbing the back of his neck and giving her a funny look.

"So, as you can see I'm fine, not dead or being attack by mafia or anything! Yup! Alright, bye bye now!" Orihime said, gently pushing him out the door.

"Wait, are-" Ichigo's statement was cut off by a loud crash of falling pots from the direction of the kitchen.

Orihime stiffened, whilst Ichigo looked over at the doorway. "What was that?" He asked.

"N-nothing! Something must have just fallen over!" Orihime said quickly, mentally pleading that he would shrug it off and leave.

But fate didn't seem to want that to happen. Ichigo pushed past her, despite her protests, and walked over and into the kitchen. Orihime ran after him and bit back laughter at what she saw.

Ulquiorra must have bumped into the pots and pans she'd left on the counter earlier that morning, and they'd come crashing down. On top of him.

He was on the ground with the usual impassive expression settled across his features, but it didn't do much considering there was a pot on his head, looking rather like a hat gone wrong.

Ichigo stared for a moment, eyes wide.

There was a beat of silence, then the orange-haired boy turned to Orihime. "What did you _do_?" He asked in shock.

"Uh... resurected Ulquiorra?" Orihime attempted a smile. Ulquiorra shoved aside the cooking utensils with much crashing and banging, and stood up, removing his make-shift hat.

Things were about to get interesting.

* * *

**Me: SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY.**

**Ulquiorra: ...**

**Me: this chapter sucks! I'm so sorry! I'll try to make up for it!**


End file.
